[Tibor Zoltan Koller Home Movies: Reel 9]

Tibor Zoltan Koller (1920-1975) was an amateur filmmaker who made home movies in Australia and overseas from the 1940s to the early 1970s. Born in Budapest, Hungary, Tibor lived in Melbourne, Victoria with his family. His wife Merna Koller was a frequent collaborator on these films, showing a shared interest in filmmaking.

Tibor captured suburban family life in Melbourne, including family celebrations, urban scenes and regional holidays. Tibor was actively engaged in the lapidary society of Australia. Several of his films show opal fields and gemstone artisans at work, as well as the 1969 ‘Gemboree’ in Beechworth, Victoria, a national festival organised by the lapidary clubs of Australia. Tibor also travelled to Idar-Oberstein in Germany, historically known as a gemstone town, and to Japan.

The Tibor Zoltan Koller Home Movie Collection has been donated to ACMI by the filmmaker’s daughter Vicki Koller. The films were made on Standard 8mm and Super 8mm film.

This film shows a family holiday, including scenes of a campground beside a river and a trip to Sydney. It includes some great footage of the Sydney Opera House under construction, seen from Sydney Harbour.

This film was made on Standard 8mm film.

Selected highlights list:
00:00:02:00 weatherboard house with roses in the front yard
00:00:54:00 a campground with tents and caravans
00:02:34:00 an Aboriginal child looking at the camera shyly
00:04:36:00 the Sydney Opera House under construction, seen from the harbour
00:05:41:00 on a ferry across Sydney Harbour